The Big Jump, And then a block wall.
I'm not sure if it is just me . Is there anyone out there that is experiencing a breakdown ? I'm not sure why, but learning beginner spanish started out fairly easy.Tengo sed, ella es delgada,ir de compras ,and all the simple stuff. And then a block wall. I read many threads,I listen to spanish music. I attempt conversation when the opportunity arises. I just don't know if it is worth it . The frustration right now with this conjugation in different tenses,when to put in a lo or a le. I can go on and on.Right now I would argue with anyone about the difficulty of learning spanish.Sorry .Just had to vent.Nobody cares except you guys.Que sad music ....Nobody knows the trouble I've seen....
16 Answers
Of course it's worth it, you don't know how happy and pleased I feel after having a conversation with Sandy, Heidi, Cass, Silvia or anybody from this forum or from other places. It's just great, you feel really cool saying "Oh my god I understood them and could tell them what I think".Things like that make you feel great. You could also watch some tv series in the original language, etc.
Please don't give up!
Note: I'm not saying that my English is great, but at least I can be understood.
Most of us are not fortunate enough to grow up hearing Spanish around us, and have to learn the hard way. I got a start in high school many years ago, then neglected it for a few decades. Ouch. About 18 months ago, I started in on learning Spanish with tireless effort. I succeeded in the "tireless effort" part, but I'm not yet fluent. Still, I see steady progress, even if it's slow. I'm afraid to take a break from my studies for fear of back-sliding. Maybe that's crazy, but I don't want to make it take even longer to reach any level of fluency than it already will.
Whenever I get frustrated, I stop for a moment and think back 6-months, or 12-months, and honestly recall how awful my level was back then. I remember thinking then, how I felt like I was getting somewhere, but in hindsight, I had far to go.
The longer I stay motivated and learn, and make gains, the more I realize there is more ahead than I realized. I don't really see an end to this journey any more. One week's progress is sometimes not perceptible, but as long as I feel I'm gaining skills month-to-month, I'm happy.
The long road to fluency
It's a process---time in yields time out. I know the more you use the language the better it is for you but hey, life happens and as much as you want to be diligent sometimes it's not in the cards for that day. My advice, when you get time to read an article, listen to music, telenovelas, talk on skype or post on SD, D O I T!!!! 
What's the worst thing that can happen, you get correct on your spanish----here is a hint: that's what we're trying to do here. 
Mistakes are going to happen and if you don't make them how are you going to learn? Keep at it heliotropman!! You can do it!!!!
Hang in there!! I think all of us (if we are being honest) hit the wall at some point or other.
I just don't know if it is worth it .
It is definitely worth it. One day, when you least expect it, you are going to encounter a Spanish speaking person and be able to communicate with them. It may not be a deep discussion on the philosophy of life, but there will be communication. You may even be able to assist them even with limited Spanish.
Try mixing up your routine or the methods you are using to learn. I'm sure you will get a ton of ideas from others. Just remember the important thing is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. You are in a valley now, but one day very soon, you will be on a mountain top.
Never, never, never give up.
Just keep at it. Keep learning vocabulary. Keep learning phrases. Keep trying to build sentences with the word of the day. Bit by bit you'll figure it out. It surprises me when I can understand or be understood after all of that frustration that I experienced.
Just keep at it!
Hit a wall?
How many times??
Language is about communication. I'm 63, and even in my native language, I still hit the wall every now and then. As a matter of fact, every significant learning experience I've had has had quite a few wall-hitting experiences.
Mark Twain once said, "The essence of all humor is pain." It happens to be true. Not a day goes by that I don't get at least one good belly laugh here at SpanDict. Sharing those head injuries with others through humor is one way to continue limping forward when you're feeling dizzy. 
I agree, amigo! It's tough! Breaking news...I think I will change my Spanish level from "intermediate" to "beginner" in the near future.
But don't give up! Think about how great it will be to one day be able to say that you know Spanish!
There are so many tenses and moods and irregulars and verbs and...ah, it's all a little overwhelming. But, I love Spanish so much.
We can do it! And we have an entire SpanishDict community to help us.
Here, this heliotrope is for you.
I think the phrase 'the more you learn, the more you realise there is to learn', is very apt when it comes to learning languages.
I am really pleased with my progress, but every now and again I step back and think that I'll never get there.
The problem I have is I dont know any Spanish speaking people so never have the opportunity to practise speaking. I've tried night school classes but as I've said in previous threads, they were far too basic and did nothing for me.
Sometimes, especially when I've spent, literally, 10 - 12 hours sitting here going through Spanish I too wonder whether its worth it.
But then..............................I read some phrases or listen to a passage and think to myself ...' hey I actually understood the vast majority of that, and there's no way I would have say 2 or 3 months ago'!!!
I think the phrase is 'poco un poco' - bit by bit! We will get there 
The best: come to our chats, ask Stadt, he is complelety new and he sent me a thank you letter for inviting him to come after he had a very nice talk with frankie and Gary.
Frankie has already worked with Bandit and Swampy....there is a lot of help out there, one just has to grab it
I know how you feel. What aggrevates me the most is that I can never remember "what" I know. It may be difficult to understand what I mean, but I'll try to explain:
It's not a matter of retention. If I've learned the words, I pretty much know them. If I've learned the grammar, I know and understand it. But when I'm trying to have a conversation, even a simple one, I forget what I know.
For example, if somebody says to me... Hey, how do you say "not yet" in Spanish. I can easily tell them "todavía no". But when I'm searching for words and phrases to say in my mind, I'll forget that I know the things I may want to say.
I hope that starts happening less and less....
But you are not alone and I'm sure we all go through things like this when learning another language. Like everybody else has said... stick with it! I'll take that advice, too.
Frankie has already worked with Bandit and Swampy....there is a lot of help out there, one just has to grab it
Oh, yes, everyone hits a wall! And not just once. Many times. My profesor said of Spanish 101 you are like babies, you aren't even walking yet. I think you called it the simple stuff. You mentioned lo or le. For me we didn't even study direct objects or indirect objects and their pronouns in 101; it comes up in 102. So of course you are having difficulty. Everybody has tons of trouble with when do I use ¨se¨ or ¨que¨ or ¨para¨. We’ve all felt like we’d never get over the hump. I think I´ll get corrected for the rest of my life!
In reference to the above from Hedita, I told myself this summer I would work on listening and speaking because I really was getting frustrated. We had a substitute profesor and I could barely catch 1 word of 4 or 5. I'd "read" in the textbook and again, just get maybe 2 out of 5. I had to look up everything! Then miraculously, Kiwi and Julián started their thread about voice recordings. I'm not real good in large groups so I started slowly, with Sanlee or Paco or Lovely, gently guiding me along. Paco (Frank) had some time and worked with me on the vowels and only this week I’ve been working on saying the consonants and speaking what Kiwi and Julián have written us for practice. But again, I have to look up everything. It's discouraging but as mentioned before looking back a month ago, I know I'm learning Spanish. And members are saying for me to keep on trying.
What would I do without seeing Darth Vador!
I see the horse as us members kinda tired and discouraged. But I see the rider as us members, too, gently letting each other know to keep on trying.
Helio,
I love threads like this because they are always so positive and reinforce all the good points about persisting with my learning.
Of course I can't really improve on all the positive replies already given - but I, like you, am still struggling with lots (most?) of the grammar I encounter. Yep sometimes it seems like one step forward - two back.
On my recent trip to Mexico - the food was delicious - the Incan and Mayan sites - incredible; the beaches - perfect. But the best thing? Being able to speak to lots of people that I met; and even better, help my fellow travellers to communicate.
I "chatted" to this lovely man at Monte Alban for ages. Did he care if I didn't congugate my verbs properly or use "le/lo/la" in the correct manner? Not at all. Are the long hours worth it? Absolutely Helio. And don't forget - "poco a poco va lejos"....
I would encourage you to keep going it is worth it/will be worth it all in the end. Nothing that is worth learning usually comes easy/easily!
I had my first lessons when I was ten years old at secondary school with a native Spanish teacher from Barcelona who happened to be teaching some other boys at my boarding school and since I had been born in a Spanish speaking country of Peru (but had to leave with my parents when I was only 18months old) I wanted to learn the language of my country of birth I had to stop the lessons because I didn't keep up my homework in other school subjects so the headtteacher stopped me receiving lessons.
I have taken courses in Spanish since and had private lessons but kept having to give them up due to financial or other personal reasons. I have visited Spain many times now and at the age of 50 I have reached a high intermediate level. It has not taken me 40 years to reach my standard because I kept stopping and starting so probably between 7 and 10 years at most. My only regret is that I had let my Spanish slip or I might have become fluent by the age of 25
I have made countless mistakes over the years and believe that I have learnt through these mistakes both in lessons and real time experience using the langauge with natives in Spain I have felt so bad over my mistakes that I felt like seriously giving up Spanish many times while in Spain despite loving the language but kept persevering !
So please don't give up it will be worth it as you gain in understanding, confidence and proficiencyand remember that it is not a race! Enjoy the journey (process) without being in a hurry to reach the destination!(fluency)
"In endurance sports such as cycling and running, 'hitting the wall' or 'the bonk' describes a condition caused by the depletion of glycogen stores in the liver and muscles, which manifests itself by sudden fatigue and loss of energy. Milder instances can be remedied by brief rest and the ingestion of food or drinks containing carbohydrates. The condition can usually be avoided by ensuring that glycogen levels are high when the exercise begins, maintaining glycogen levels during exercise by eating or drinking carbohydrate-rich substances, or by reducing exercise intensity."
Learning Spanish is obviously an endurance sport.
It sounds like the solution is to step away from the books or the computer and take yourself out for some food at a Spanish, Cuban, Mexican, Peruvian, Dominican (...you name the Spanish-speaking country) restaurant in your area. Listen to some real live Spanish music. Go out and do the salsa or merengue! Enjoy some vibrant part of the very large and dynamic Spanish culture and relax a little.
